All Levels at Once
by Circus4APsycho8
Summary: Nya & Cole go way back... It's a long story involving a mysterious killer, two friends, an overprotective brother, and a detective rooting for justice. Cole x Nya Slow burnish. CoNya
1. level 0

**Hi all! Long time no see, eh?**

**Well, after a month or so of debate, I finally decided to publish this. I got about halfway done with writing it and then hit a horrible block. I'm hoping by putting it up now I'll be able to finish it! The chapters are short enough for me to get done fairly quickly, so hopefully that won't be a problem!**

**I hope you like it!**

* * *

"Zane, I'm hungry!"

"Kai, shut up! I only have, like, two pimples!"

"Z_aaaaaaa_ne!"

"I am cooking as fast as I can, brother."

"Lloyd, why are you looking at _hentai_?!"

"H-hey! This isn't-ugh, you suck, dude!"

"Mmm-hmm. Just like her-"

"SHUT UP!"

Nya sighs, the constant bickering of the ninja emanating from the interior of the Bounty. The aching migraine that was approaching was only part of the reason why she'd come out here to escape.

A grey blanket covers the atmosphere as Nya gazes along the horizon of the land before her. Tiny little towns spring across the green grass of Ninjago like patterns lovingly embroidered on a handmade quilt. A slight gust of wind tickles the back of her head and neck as she scoots closer to the edge of the Bounty, legs dangling precariously over the edge. Gently, she swings them back and forth, watching as they move against the far below ground. Her head drops against the only barrier from tumbling to a rather messy death: a metal bar that fanned out into the railing that bordered the edge. Nya's small hands come up to wrap around it as well, her thumbs gently rubbing circles into the cool metal. Little goosebumps line themselves onto her skin as the evening wind becomes a bit chillier than before.

She bits her lower lip in a crooked, sad smile as she revels in her reminiscence of a time long past. Another heated debate swarms through her mind as she absentmindedly drums her fingertips against the metal.

"Aren't you cold?" a voice asks from behind. Nya tenses, recognizing the voice as Jay's.

"Not…not really. I think it feels nice," Nya admits, ashamed at her sudden lack of interest in the man taking a seat beside her. His dorky grin and cute freckles just didn't…didn't…

"What's on your mind?" he questions, leaning back and gazing at her. Ah, she had forgotten that he could read the mask she'd developed over years of practice. She studies his electric eyes for a moment and thinks about her answer before replying.

She could beat around the bush.

Explain the reason behind her sudden lack of romantic feeling towards him.

Tell him she missed someone else dearly, and her chest felt tight just

thinking about this certain someone.

Even though millions of jumbled phrases skitter through her mind, only five words escape her. May as well rip the Band-Aid off.

"I'm breaking up with you."

The hurt in his eyes that follows is too much for her to bear, his lips unfolding into a betrayed frown. He scoots back a bit, away from her.

Swiveling her head to the side, she squeezes the bar even harder, shutting her eyes.

"Wh-what?!" he begins, voice shaky. Nya can already tell his mind is racing for some logical conclusion. "Why?! I thought…I thought…things were going…well. For us."

"They were," Nya admits, returning her gaze back to him. "But…it's not you, Jay, it's me. And…and I can't tell you exactly why yet…because…" she trails off for a second, "because I'm not too sure why I've this sudden change of feelings either."

_She knows exactly why._

He gawks at her, speechless for once. His eyes are beginning to grow glassy, unlike Nya's, whose were unexpectedly dry.

"I…I'm so sorry Jay," she mumbles.

Without another word, the master of lightning stumbles to his feet and jogs away. Nya gently bangs her forehead against the metal bar, wishing she didn't have to deal with these stupid, complex things known as _feelings_. Yuck. She does, however, feel the tiniest bit relieved that she had finally gotten that off of her chest.

Then, Nya hears the nearby opening and closing of the door, along with muffled footsteps approaching her small figure. The two take a seat on either side of her.

"Hey sis," Kai is the first to speak. "What happened? We saw Jay in tears, running to his room."

"I…I broke up with him," she responds, the reality and suddenness of it all still sinking in.

There's a shift beside her.

"Why?" Cole inquires, taking her hand into his.

"I…miss everything from home," Nya finally explains, glancing up at Cole, then at Kai. "I mean, being here is…it's perfect, but there was something about the shop…something about Ignacia…"

Cole nods. "I miss the region we lived in, too. The forest, the train…all of it."

Kai nudges her shoulder. "We'll go visit sometime. Maybe that'll cheer you up!"

"All of it?" Nya asks her older brother. Kai nods firmly.

"All of it."

"Mind if I tag along as well?" Cole asks, grinning slightly.

"'Course. Wouldn't be the same without ya, buddy," Kai says, reaching over to pat his fellow ninja on the back.

"Thank you. It…seems like it was only yesterday, huh?" Cole mumbles, rubbing Nya's knuckles. "…Was home all you missed, _mon cher_?"

Nya giggles a bit, looking up to him to find that he's looking down at her with his pretty eyes. "I miss you, too, Cole-kun."

"A'ight, it's getting late and a little awkward so I'm just gonna head inside. Don't try anything, Cole, or I'll kill you myself." With that, Kai rises and saunters back into the Bounty.

Cole chuckles a bit, wrapping his strong arms around her and pulling her away from the edge. "I've missed you too. It's been a long time, huh? But…I think we can get everything we had back with time."

"Time…" Nya mumbles, eyelids fluttering closed for a moment as she remembered…

* * *

**I like that revamped intro tbh.**

**I hope you're all doing well! School has been hecking stressful but I'm managing :/**

**Please tell me what you think!**


	2. level 1

**(A/N): Hello! Glad to see this story has support!**

**I should note that this story will NOT** **be OC-centric. I have a few in place just to help with the plot, but they won't be mentioned more than they have to be.**

**Anyways, enjoy!**

* * *

**[5 Years Ago]**

**[Ignacia – Four Weapons Blacksmith]**

"_Ohayou gozaimasu_, Smith-san!" greets one of the many rice farmers of Ignacia. Nya offers a smile as she adjusts the straps of her backpack.

"_Ohayou_, Akane-sama," Nya replies, smiling back. "How are you all this morning?"

"We're doing alright, thank you. How about you and that hotheaded brother of yours?"

Nya shrugs. "More or less the same."

Akane gives a hum of acknowledgement. "I'll take that, as long as it's not going badly. Have you received any trouble?"

"I've been searching for a job, but it's kind of hard since I'm so young. Kai's doing his best with blacksmithing, but his impatience always gets the better of him," Nya sighs.

"Well, keep at it, girl. Help Kai as much as you can and remember to take care of yourself as well. Please, let us know if you need any help. If things get too bad, we'll do our best to step in."

"We appreciate that, but we're trying our best to hold our ground for as long as possible. The child agency knows that Kai isn't quite old enough to own a house, but at least they were kind enough to let us wait until he is."

"Don't you two have to make a certain amount of money before he turns eighteen?"

"Yes. We've got to save up a ridiculous amount that I can't even remember...but our parents left behind a decent stash, so that kind of helps us out a bit." Nya exhales heavily again. "I know if we work hard for this last year, we can do it! But we've got to be extremely careful."

"Let's hope that those government people don't get too impatient. Siblings shouldn't be separated," agrees Akane.

"We're going to do everything in our power to prevent that from happening."

"NYA!" Nya hears from up the hill, where Kai is waving his arms. With a sigh, the future water ninja steps back.

"Looks like I've got to get going, but it was nice talking to you!" Nya replies, smiling again.

"A pleasure as always, dear Nya. Keep my advice in mind!"

…

"Kai, you need to stop going so fast. That's why the metal turns out to be all bent when you take it out," Nya groans, leaning against one of the wooden pillars in the shop as Kai threw the unusually curvy attempt at a sword to the ground.

"I _did_ wait, sis! It's not working!" Kai yells, kicking the sword out of the way.

Nya sighs. "Let me try to cool it off next time, alright? You handle all the hot stuff. You're actually halfway decent at that part, for some reason..."

"Fine," the fire master grunts, choosing to ignore that last part.

Nya gave her big brother an exasperated pat on the arm. "You'll get there. Somehow. Some way."

Kai shook his head, leaning on a counter. "Overlord, I hope so."

The two are cut off by a whistling originating outside the shop. The siblings turn their heads in response to the newcomer.

"Hello? Anyone here?" asks the voice. A body appears from around the corner.

He is a tall man, matching Kai in height. His general stature is buff, with strong forearms and heavily-muscled biceps. A pair of broad shoulders towers over Nya's petite figure. The newcomer is roughly a head taller than her, she thinks. When she gets a better look at him, she finds that he's got tousled black hair and unusual green eyes the color of spearmint. Nya takes note of the dark bags underneath his eyes. He has a chiseled jawline, and his light skin is tanned. Dressed in dark-washed jeans with a loose orange t-shirt, Nya feels her breath catch in her throat.

_Oh damn._

"H-hello, how could we help you?" Nya asks, trying not to be bothered by his pretty muscles and eyes.

He gives a somewhat lopsided yet tired smile as he peers down at her. "I heard about this shop from the town. Do you guys take requests?"

"Sure do," Nya replies. "What's up?"

He shuffles around in his pocket for a moment before tugging out a photo. "Could you make a knife shaped like this, but without all the bling on it?" He hands the picture to Nya, who takes it eagerly.

It's a sketch of an interpretation of one of the four Fang Blades, Nya notices. "You want it shaped like a Fang Blade?"

"Yeah, that's the idea. I know there are a ton of sketches out there, but this one appealed to me the most."

The sketch portrayed the blade as thickly-cut with an odd sheen of color on it. Gems line the lower part of it, and some of the metal, too.

"Yeah, the metal we can do. As for the gems and weird color sheen, that's a bit too much."

"Yeah, I figured. Just the metal'll do."

"Okay. Do you want anything engraved in the metal?" Nya asks.

"Hm...how about...," he trails off, eyebrows furrowed in thought. "_Lena_. The name Lena." She scribbles the order down onto the notepad she always kept by the counter. Aw, did he have a girlfriend? _A shame._ Nya couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed. Kai shot her a questioning glance as she sighed.

"Are there any specific measurements you'd like for us to keep in mind?" she questions.

"I would like it at about the size of a regular combat knife, but other than that, no."

"Okay. We'll have it ready for you in a few days," Nya says, tearing the sheet of paper off of the notepad.

"I'll have the payment then, too," he states. "Alright. Guess I'll be back in a few days. Thanks!"

"No problem. Thanks for stopping by," she says, smiling.

"'Course. See you guys later." He gives a short wave before turning around and heading in the direction of the forest rather than on the road leading to the siblings' shop. He must be from town, then. Or from the city.

Shaking her head, Nya brings the sheet of paper to her brother.

"Let's try this again."


	3. level 2

**Hi all! Summer's finally here. For me, at least! I hope you all like this chapter! I know it's starting off soon, but I've got action scenes planned. Dun worry.**

* * *

Here it is.

One of the worst things about coming to a new school.

_Deciding where to sit at lunch._

Students are bustling about everywhere, chattering and laughing. Every table he could see was taken, so sitting alone was not an option. Awkwardly, he stood at the front of the cafeteria, not quite sure what to do with himself. Should he just hide in the bathroom? Convince the librarian to let him eat in there? Beg a nice teacher to let him sit with them awkwardly? Curl up on the floor and cry?  
…

He had no idea.

A particular table caught his eye as he desperately scanned the area for an empty table. There were only two people at this table, but they looked kind of familiar.

…

The people who he'd ordered his knife from. He recognizes the spiky hair of the taller male along with the petite figure of that cute girl. A soft smile curled onto his lips as he made his way over to their table. When he got there, the two were quietly talking to each other with hushed voices.

"Uh...mind if I sit?" he asks, feeling exposed as the two turn to look at him. It took the pair a few moments to recognize him.

"You're the guy from yesterday," the girl notices, her expression slightly surprised.

"Yeah," agrees the male, "you're new here?"

Cole nods. "I moved to this town a few weeks ago. Uh...it's my first day here, though."

"Oh, cool," says the spiky-haired guy. "Yeah, sit."

Thankfully, Cole took a seat across from the two. "Thanks. I'm Cole, by the way."

"I'm Kai. This is my sister Nya," introduces the man. Nya smiles.

Cole didn't really get a good look at her yesterday, but she had jet-black hair cut just above her shoulders. It was slightly frizzy, but it still looked cute on her. She had pretty hazel eyes, a mixture of an earthy green and a dark brown, the latter of which was the same shade of her brother's. Her eyes, however, also contained the same exhaustion Cole's held.

"It's nice to meet you," she says, snapping him out of his trance.

"Good to meet you guys too," he states, opening his lunchbox.

"Where are you from?" Nya asks.

"The eastern part of the city, but my dad got a job transfer, so here we are," he replies.

"The city, huh? That's cool."

Cole shrugs. "I like it better out here."

"Really? Why?" Kai asks, genuinely curious.

"It's a lot quieter and way less crazy," he answers.

"I could see that," Kai replies.

"We don't go to the city often," Nya admits.

"Understandably," Cole says with a chuckle.

"So, do you live anywhere near Ignacia? You must live pretty close if you walked to our shop," Kai questions.

"I live in Emiko, the village northeast from this school," he answers.

"Oh. You must have caught a ride on the train, then," Nya observes.

"Yeah, I did," he says, chuckling. "It's really cool out here. To be out of the city."

"I bet. It is a nice change of pace, huh?" Kai asks, grinning.

They don't get to continue their conversation as the bell to signal the end of lunch.

"Ah, well, it was nice to meet you, Cole-kun," Nya says as they all gather their belongings.

"Nice to meet you all too," Cole replies, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. The three go their separate ways for the rest of the schoolday.


	4. level 3

**What's up gamers? Hope everything is going well. Have a chapter *gives***

* * *

_Lena_.

Her fingertips graze the tip of the blade. With a bit of teamwork along with some trial and error, it had only taken Kai and Nya three tries to get the shape of the blade perfect. It seemed like it wasn't sharp enough for the average expectation, so Nya steps over to the grindstone, where she begins to sharpen the blade.

The siblings had never had a customer that had requested a name to be engraved, but who was she to judge? Everyone had their reasons, although Nya couldn't help but wonder about the reasoning behind this particular name. A girlfriend? His mom? Stepmom? Sister? Friend? Her thoughts drifted about until she deemed the knife sharp enough to sell. Satisfied, she stood, walking over to a shelf. Taking a cardboard box out of it, she sets the knife on the counter. Grabbing three zip ties from the shelf, she places them next to the box.

She starts by punching six holes into the bottom: three on the left, three on the right with about an inch or so of space in between. Then, she lays the knife inside the box before weaving the zip ties through and cutting off the unneeded material. On the notepad, she writes:

_Cole _

_Engraved Dagger _

Taping it onto the top of the box, she stoops to place it underneath the counter before rising back up again.

Her fingers tap onto the counter as she returns to the inside of the siblings' home. Nya pads into the living room and collapses on her family's worn-out sofa, deciding that she'll close her eyes a bit before continuing with homework.

She's not sure how she and Kai will scrape up the required amount of money in order to get back on their feet and keep the child agency out of their hair. Being separated from Kai – who was the only family she had left - was something that neither of the siblings would allow. Nya hoped and hoped every night that the two would never be separated. She hugged a pillow and buried her face in it.

Kai must have been somewhere else at the moment, but she desperately craved a big brother hug. Sighing in frustration, she jerks herself upright before standing and walking down the hallway, her shoulders tense. The silence of their home suddenly makes her nervous, yet still she continues. She needs to do this.

Unwelcomed memories begin clawing at the front of her mind.

_Waking up in the middle of the night having heard out-of-place footsteps. _

The door to their parent's room seems more menacing than it ever had before. Memories of when that very door seemed inviting, when it was never closed.

_Hearing the quiet opening of a door. Nya sneakily creeping out of bed. _

She places one hand on the brass doorknob, twisting it slightly.

_They weren't awake to discover the horror of their fate. _

The door creeps open particularly slowly.

_But Nya was._

The room comes into view.

_A figure towering over their mother as a blade was slammed into her chest, then lifted back up, something spattering the wall. Shifting. A chuckle. _

The closed curtains, bleach-enhanced walls, bed covered in plastic.

_The figure moves to finish off Ray. _

Nya exhales shakily, memories of that night surging through her mind as she flicks the light switch on. The illumination does little to calm her thoughts.

Countless times she had visited this room, to see if she could find something. Anything that would help advance their parent's case. Something that would subtly give the killer away. Something that they messed up. The fatal flaw.

Nya closes her eyes.

A nagging feeling grows in the pit of her stomach, signaling to her that her parents wouldn't be able to rest properly until the killer paid for what he did.

Nya clenches a fist, a tear running down her cheek. The authorities said she and Kai couldn't help with the investigation, said that they needed to visit therapists for their grief, and, for Nya, both that and severe PTSD.

It'd gotten better over the last few weeks. Nya was starting to rest better at night, so long as Kai was in the room with her. She started finishing her homework and catching up on as many missed assignments as she could handle. Her grades rose gradually, and the color returned to her skin as the bags under her eyes faded. She started smiling again and became clingier around Kai than she was previously.

Nya sighs, glancing around the bedroom. There has to be something the CSI team missed, right? Some vital piece of evidence?

With a grunt, Nya rolls up her sleeves and gets to work on searching.

* * *

**Okay...totally unrelated, but I got my first job! It's actually a paid internship, but still. THEY GAVE ME MY OWN OFFICE AND EVERYTHING. It's incredible.**

**Anyways. I hope everyone's doing well. Thanks for reading!**


	5. level 4

**(A/N): I decided to combine Chapters 5 & 6 just to make it longer. I was re-watching the old series of Ninjago this week bc I was sick and then on the day of my Dr. appointment I got really stressed out and when Zane died I just started crying because I realized how perfect our idjits are T.T my dad's like...why tf you crying at legos? Lol.**

**Also, I should add...**

****** Here I used one of DeliciouslyDangerous1's OCs, Lena, who was Cole's little sister. In revising this story's plot, I thought of her and decided to use her. I highly recommend you check out DD1's profile! I don't think she's active anymore, but she has some hella good stories! I remember reading 'Ninjago: Choosing' five years ago, waaay back in 2014. (She was a CoNya shipper too!) That story was my fucking life back then! I remember her saying that she didn't mind if us authors used her OCs so long as we gave her credit. So, check her out if you get the chance!**

u/1932092/DeliciouslyDangerous1 [just add the ff.n in front]

**I decided to use Lena partially because she fits the role in this story, and partially because I would like to thank DD1. She was my main inspiration for writing CoNya back when I first started in…what, freaking 2016? Has it been that long? Jeez. Anyway, her story was pretty much the first CoNya fanfiction I read. That's how I got sucked into fanfiction. In retrospect, my original writing style was heavily modeled after hers. I hope you'll take a look at her profile :3**

* * *

Cole shivers as a slight breeze gently drifts through the air, leaves and twigs snapping under his feet as he makes his way through the forest, the thick canopy of leaves above him protecting him from the teensy raindrops falling from the sky. He shoves branches of bushes aside as he presses on with his journey.

He hears the coins that he had scraped together clanking together in his bag. It had been a while since he had used a real knife, especially in combat. Not that he wanted to, but it was definitely good insurance after…what happened. He shakes his head, approaching the treeline that bordered the small village of Ignacia.

He absolutely loves the layout of the town he had moved to; he'd picked the perfect place. Emiko was close to the school, and the entire combined region of the town and village of Emiko created the northern part of Ninjago. Ignacia was located on the opposite side of the forest, which Cole could reach relatively easily since there was a coal train running daily; its track ran past Emiko, then down to the village, where it ran alongside the forest. Around Cole's town, it fanned out several separate ways. Cole thinks he could probably reach the northeastern part of Ninjago City this way.

Finally, he reaches the top of the hill where the little blacksmith shop is located. With a sigh of relief, he peeks through the window.

"Hello?"

He hears some muffled thumping originating from what he assumes is the residential part of the shop. There are hurried footsteps as well, and then a slam of a door. He leans on the counter as a flustered Nya makes her way out.

"Oh…uh…hey…" she begins.

"Heya, Nya. Got my knife ready?"

"Oh! Yeah. Let me just…" she bends down and shuffles through whatever's under the counter before she pulls out a little box, setting it on the counter once she's upright again. "Here you are."

"Thank you," he replies, fishing the bag of money out from his pocket. "Keep the change."

"Thank you, we appreciate it," Nya says, placing the bag underneath the counter. Hopefully, however much was in there would give them a decent boost.

"Alright. Guess I'll see you tomorrow?" he asks, smiling. Nya blushes a bit, smiling back shyly. He picks up the cardboard box, his pretty eyes scanning over the makeshift label.

"Yeah. Later," she answers. Once he's out of sight, Nya lets out a sighand mumbles,"Damn, he's handsome!"

* * *

Nya squeezes the straps of her backpack as she tries to dodge all of the other students in the hall. Weaving through the crowd, she tries to decide the best path to follow in order to avoid any unneeded interaction. She expertly passes the slower walkers and dodges anyone she would rather not confront; the future water ninja makes her way to the cafeteria.

Kai is already there, as per usual. This had become part of the siblings' schedule for school. Every grade level was integrated into different lunch periods, and Nya thought herself lucky to have been placed into one with Kai. After their parents were murdered, Nya lost many of her friends out of both fear and her being distant. Kai really was the only person she had left. Of course, she didn't just lose her friends – a lot of people now targeted her as the center of their bullying. She didn't really care; after all, high school was only temporary. They could tease and hit her all they wanted; it wouldn't deter her from getting where she wanted to be.

She takes her usual spot next to her big brother, setting her bookbag down onto the seat next to her.

"Hey, sis," he greets, grinning up at her. Even if he didn't show it, Nya knew that the last few months had taken a toll on him, too. Nya wished there was more she could do to help him, since he had to figure out all of the property and underage concerns, but Nya had little to no idea how it all worked. She wasn't sure how Kai had managed. She'd have to go into town and look for a job. At this point, she didn't care how much it paid as long as it was _something_. She hated feeling useless in times like these; he had to be strong for Nya, but she feared for her older brother. She knew he needed to be supported, too.

"Hey, Kai," she mumbles, unzipping her bag and shuffling around before pulling a flimsy plastic folder and setting it in front of her. Kai shoots her a questioning glance. She opens it, peering at the papers inside.

It's everything she had gathered about the murders: pictures of the crime scene (she had managed to get her hands on a few copies through their lawyer), reports of what the law enforcement thought had happened, little pieces of evidence that made no sense. Nya had a hunch that Ray and Maya were killed by a certain serial killer that targeted an odd bunch of people; one could even call his method of targeting random. Even though it appeared that way, Nya knew there had to be something more to the victims targeted. She had a list and sheet of paper identifying each victim. A shudder runs down her spine upon seeing the remains of her parents after they'd been stabbed to death. She flips those pictures over for the moment.

"Sis, we talked about this," Kai starts, the exhaustion in his voice evident.

"Just hear me out, please! I think I know what ties these people together," Nya pleads, giving him her most hopeful expression.

Kai sighed. "We need to let the authorities handle it. It isn't our place to poke around."

"The authorities think that our parents' case is a lost cause. I don't know about you, but I think we need to take this into our own hands. Please, Kai? I know you want justice just as much as I do."

He remains quiet for a minute. "I do want justice just as much as you do, Nya. But I'm not going to let you put yourself in danger. We just lost our parents; I can't lose you too."

"You won't, Kai. We'll find someone, someone who-" she trails off as Cole sits down.

"Hey guys," he greets. Nya blinks, then recovers from her stunned silence.

"Hi, Cole," she replies, flipping some of the papers around as Kai lets out an exasperated sigh.

"What are you guys looking a-" he stops mid-sentence, his gaze locked on one of the victim sheets. His eyebrows furrow in concentration as he reaches over and slides the paper over to him. Nya notes that the victim who caught his eye was a baby.

_Lena Brookestone. _

_8 months old _

_Killed by blunt force trauma to the head _

Nya's eyes widen as everything falls into place.

_Lena. _

"Lena…" Cole mumbles, his voice soft. The paper gently drops out of his grip as his hands move to cover his face.

"You…you're related to her…" Nya whispers, eyes wide.

Cole looks up at them. "You had someone taken away from you too?" His eyes are glassy.

"O-our parents…" Nya answers, her eyes on Cole's. She sees something familiar behind his green eyes.

_Rage. Determination. Raw fury. Hatred. _All for a killer none of them had met.

Kai seems horrified as well as one unspoken question lingers among the three:

Who would do this?! Who _could_ do this?!

A pregnant silence rages on through the table as the distant chattering of the rest of the untainted cafeteria goes on with life.

"What is all of this?" Cole asks, sliding next to Nya. He leans a little closer to her to get a better look at all the paper.

"All of the crime scene stuff. I…had a hunch," she replies, growing slightly uncomfortable as Cole shifts beside her.

Cole shuffles through the papers, his eyes scanning the pictures and documents until he finds a single piece of loose leaf paper filled with Nya's handwriting.

_Each and every victim has visited the Monastery of Spinjitzu at one point during their life. _

"How…how did you figure this out?" Cole asks, pointing at the piece of paper before looking back up at her.

"I didn't. The detectives working our case did, but they never got very far with it," Nya answers, looking up at him.

Cole's gaze hardens into something more tenacious than it was before. "I know someone. He can help us. The authorities had to have missed something. Are you guys down to catch whoever's doing this?"

Kai and Nya glance at each other. The younger of the two picks up on the other's conflictions. "Please, Kai? This is our chance!"

The future fire master remains quiet, then: "Yes. Let me help and leave the dangerous stuff to people who are trained to handle it."

Nya gasps slightly. "I didn't think you'd say yes!"

"Well, if I said no, you would have just done it behind my back. At least I'll know what you're doing. But, let me tell you this. If you get badly hurt, I'm calling it all off. Clear?"


End file.
